


Six Stops

by chibistarlyte



Series: Tumblr Ask Box Shit [10]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Trains, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 21:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18764680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibistarlyte/pseuds/chibistarlyte
Summary: Thorin sees a cute stranger every day on his morning commute.





	Six Stops

**Author's Note:**

> The lovely amazingly awesome Kat ([ladyoakenshields](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoakenshields/pseuds/ladyoakenshields)) sent me the following prompt on tumblr: "bilbo and thorin modern!au see each other almost every single day on public transportation, who works up the courage to talk to the other first?"
> 
> So here, have Thorin being an awkward bean. 
> 
> Not beta'd. Please let me know of any errors! Comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3
> 
> Enjoy!

The train was always so damn crowded by the time Thorin got on in the morning.

It was expected, though. His stop wasn’t until about six stops from the beginning of the line, and it was the middle of rush hour when everyone and their mother was commuting to work. So of course the train would be crowded.

Unfortunately for Thorin, he was a bit bulkier than most people and thus it was difficult to sandwich himself between other passengers and not disturb them by constantly bumping into them every time the train moved.

Today was his lucky day, he thought as he spotted a relatively open spot by one of the benches. He’d have to stand, of course, but that was no problem for him. He was used to it. He politely pushed his way through the aisle of people and came to stop right next to a curly-haired man with a book seated on the bench. Thorin held on tightly to the handle above his head as the train started to move once more, keeping his balance with ease.

The train ride itself was uneventful, as per usual. Thorin spent most of it just staring out the window and watching as the scenery slowly morphed from a mix of rural-suburban to a more urban setting the closer they traveled to downtown Erebor. He would have preferred to live in Erebor proper so that he wouldn’t have to commute for over an hour every day, but even for a jewelry designer such as himself, real estate in the city was just too expensive. At least the commute could be worse–had he decided to drive rather than take the train, he would have been stuck in standstill traffic for Mahal knows how long every morning and evening.

The train slowed to a stop at Erebor University, three stops away from his own. Thorin was busy admiring the artwork at the train station when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Pardon me, but this is my stop.”

Thorin looked down to see who had spoken to him and his blue eyes made contact with a pair of vivid green eyes. He was face-to-face with the man who had been seated next to him and wow, he had never seen someone so beautiful in all his life.

Oh. He should probably respond, somehow.

“Sorry,” Thorin said and tried to move out of the way of the curly-haired man. He received a nod in thanks and the man weaved his way through the remaining crowd. Thorin watched as he got off the train, watched as he properly shouldered his worn leather satchel and straightened his burgundy blazer, watched as the man headed out onto the campus and pulled a gold pocket watch–wait, a _pocket watch??_ –out to check the time.

And that was the last glimpse Thorin had of this mysterious man as the train pulled away from the station.

* * *

The next day, Thorin saw the curly-haired man on the train again. This time, though, he was standing near one of the doors, one hand holding the handrail and the other hand holding a book that he seemed to be completely engrossed in.

Thorin could have sworn it was a different book from yesterday.

The man was wearing a navy blue blazer today. Thorin had thought the burgundy looked good on him, but the navy blue seemed to make his light brown hair stand out a bit more. 

He tried to spend the rest of the train ride looking out the window like he usually did, but he found that his gaze kept shifting towards a certain passenger the entire time. At least, until said passenger once again got off at the university stop. Even then, Thorin watched him until the train went around the bend and the man was completely out of sight.

* * *

Day after day, week after week, Thorin saw the mysterious curly-haired man on his morning train commute. And from just observing from afar, Thorin learned these few things about him:

1\. He definitely preferred wearing jewel tones. And blazers. Every single blazer Thorin had seen him in had been a deep, rich gemstone color of some kind. Being a jeweler, Thorin could appreciate that.

2\. He seemed to be extremely well-read. He had a different book every day, and from the titles that Thorin had happened to catch on a few occasions, they weren’t exactly easy reads. There were even a couple he noticed were written in a different language, though he couldn’t discern what languages from a distance.

3\. He was possibly a professor, judging by his attire, general demeanor, and where he got off the train every morning.

4\. He was absolutely stunning.

Well, that last point was definitely more subjective than the first three, but.  Sometimes Thorin found himself distracted by the way the sunlight would fall on the man’s round face, illuminating his curls to an almost golden blond. Or the way his favored blazers would hug his shoulders just right. Or the way his gorgeous green eyes would squint every now and then on a particularly difficult passage in his book du jour and he would silently mouth the words he was reading.

Thorin had thought about kissing that mouth more often than he’d care to admit.

“Excuse me, please.”

Thorin mentally shook himself out of his daze and looked to the source of the voice. There was a small smile on the man’s face as he looked up at Thorin, green eyes shining with…something Thorin couldn’t discern. It was then that Thorin realized just how _short_ this man was; he barely cleared Thorin’s shoulder.

“Oh, uh, my apologies,” Thorin said, ducking his head as he tried to move out of the way…but there wasn’t much room for him to move. He sucked in a breath and held it as the curly-haired man squeezed past him trying to reach the door. There was a small _thump_ as the man descended the stairs, which drew Thorin’s eye.

A book was lying on the dirty floor of the train, still thankfully closed and bookmarked but the cover looked a little scuffed from its tumble.

Before the train started moving again, Thorin pushed his way towards the door and picked up the book. By the time he stood up again, the train had started moving and he damn near lost his footing before grabbing onto the nearest handrail he could. He held the book in his free hand and dusted the front and back covers off on his brown trousers. Once he felt it was clean enough, Thorin brought the book up to look at the cover.

His eyes widened when he saw the title of the book was in Khuzdul. Now _that_ was a rare sight. There weren’t many books written in his mother tongue anymore, and this one looked like it had been published fairly recently.

Just who _was_ this mysterious curly-haired man? Thorin needed to know.

* * *

Climbing the steps onto the train, Thorin immediately began looking around for the curly-haired man. He had to return his book to him, and also attempt to strike up a conversation _somehow_. He wanted to know why this man had not only been reading a book written in Khuzdul, but a book written in Khuzdul about jewels and metal crafting.

Too bad Thorin wasn’t great with social interactions.

And damn it, where was the man?! Of course it would be today of all days that he wouldn’t be on the train.

Finally, as the train began to move, Thorin spotted a familiar mop of light brown curls.

As politely as he could, Thorin weaved his way down the aisle filled with commuters until he reached the man, who happened to be standing this morning and holding onto the handrail with both hands. No book today.

Probably because he’d accidentally dropped the one he was currently working through, Thorin surmised. 

“I think you dropped this yesterday,” Thorin said a little out of breath, his heart hammering in his chest and cutting off his oxygen supply. He held the book out to the man, who regarded it with wide green eyes that a few seconds later locked onto Thorin’s face.

“Oh, heavens, thank goodness you found it! I was searching everywhere for it yesterday…” the man sighed in relief, taking the book with a grateful smile.

Thorin’s heart leapt into his throat. “I-it’s no problem. I was hoping I’d see you today so I could return it to you.”

“Well, I thank you very much, Mister…?” the man trailed off.

“Thorin. Thorin Oakenshield.”

The man’s eyes widened again. “Thorin Oakenshield of Thror and Sons Jewelers?”

It was Thorin’s eyes’ turn to widen. “You know of us?”

The man nodded, his curls bouncing adorably around his cheekbones. “Oh, yes! Incidentally enough, I’ve read a bit about your company in this book…” A bit bashfully, the man held up his book, his eyes darting back and forth between it an Thorin a couple times.

Thorin cleared his throat, nervously averting his gaze to the window. His cheeks colored, though any blush he might have has was mostly covered by his dark facial hair. He tried to think of something, _anything_ to say that wouldn’t make him sound like a socially inept idiot, but nothing came.

“So, uh, you seem to know who I am. But I have no idea who you are,” he said awkwardly, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I do believe I’ve forgotten my manners. My name is Bilbo Baggins. I’m a professor of Sindarin at Erebor University.”

Well, that confirmed Thorin’s assumptions that he must be a professor of some sort.

“So you’re a linguist?” Thorin asked. He idly wondered what other languages this man– _Bilbo_ , what a nice name, it suited him somehow–spoke.

Bilbo laughed a little nervously. “Ah, I like to dabble, yes. Sindarin is the only other language I speak fluently, though.”

Well, Thorin could definitely help with that, being a native Khuzdul speaker.

“Oh, this is my stop!” Bilbo announced almost hurriedly, like the university stop had crept up on him without his knowledge. Thorin briefly looked out the window to confirm. Had time really gone that quickly?

“Um, thank you so much again for returning my book, Thorin! I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost it for good!” Bilbo then laughed nervously again. “And it was very nice to finally meet you.”

Finally? What did Bilbo mean by that? Thorin didn’t have much time to wonder about it, though, because Bilbo was already squeezing past him for the door. “Nice to meet you too, Bilbo!” he called out. The professor waved to him as he exited the train.

The doors closed and Thorin looked out the window, blue eyes meeting green for the briefest of moments before the train continued on its way.

Thorin allowed a small smile to tug at his lips. He couldn’t wait to talk to Bilbo more tomorrow.


End file.
